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tv   ABC2 News The Latest at 11  ABC  August 17, 2009 11:00pm-11:35pm EDT

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next on abc 2 news works for you: >> how not to pop the question. a local delegate is engaged, but his marriage proposal has opened up a police investigation. i've been sleeping on my balcony. >> and some city seniors are heated. they haven't had air conditioning in days. what is the city doing to help? >> now abc 2 news, the latest at 11. >> first tonight, city police consider tightening security after a weekend shooting inside the light street pavilion. good evening. i'm marybeth marsden. the harbor generates millions of tourist dollars every year, money that is threatened by what police are calling gang violence. christian schaffer is live at the inner harbor tonight where so far it doesn't look like the shooting is keeping many people away. chris? >> reporter: busy night at the inner harbor. it's the middle of the summer travel season. the orioles had a home game tonight. but city officials say they
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simply can't afford many more incidents like the one that happened at the light street pavilion on saturday night. police believe the two victims were gang members, but there were hundreds of other people inside the light street pavilion. two nights later, things are getting back to normal. at camden yards, some fans traveled thousands of miles to see their team. they did not expect to hear about a double shooting five blocks away. >> wherever you go in a big city, to be at the right place at the right time instead of the wrong time. >> reporter: there is no doubt the police presence has been step upped in the harbor. but city officials say that's not enough. they're calling for tougher prosecution and longer sentences for violent offenders. >> i'm convinced that good police enforcement followed by good prosecution and real jail sentences will solve all of those problems. >> when we identify individuals who are carrying illegal weapons, and we arrest them, then the system has to do the rest.
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that to me in my view is not happening. >> reporter: the city's top prosecutor counters that she and her staff are doing all they can to fight gang violence. right now it not a crime in maryland to be a member of the gang. pat jessamy would like to change that. >> there will be several meetings the month of july with prosecutors throughout the state, with police to again go back to the legislature with a new package of bills that identify what we need to prosecute gang members. >> reporter: a string of assaults in and around the hash their year prompted police to significantly increase patrols in the area. now the police commissioner has told those officers if they identify gang members down here to question them. live in the inner harbor, christian schaffer, abc 2 news. quite a scare essentially this morning in college park. no students were involved, but double stabbing is under investigation tonight. police responded to a 7-eleven parking lot in the 8900 block of rhode island avenue at 4:00 this morning. they found two men lying on the ground. both were flown to a nearby
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hospital where one died. investigators think the men drove to the parking lot, and that the stabbing actually happened about a mile away at a home on hollywood road. neighbors are on edge. >> haven't had a violent crime here in 42 years. longer than that. i lived here 42 years. it just doesn't happen. >> crime is everywhere, and these things happen everywhere. and we just need to stay together, stay strong, and stay vigilant, and protect each other. >> police think the stabbing was the result of a domestic dispute. the reward for information leading to the capture of devin champagne has jumped to $5,000. he is the prisoner who attacked a howard county sheriff's deputy during an escape last week. that deputy is expected to be okay. but champagne is considered dangerous. if you spot him, or if you have any information that could help police find him, you're asked to call the howard county sheriff's office at 410-313- 2150. you could say a maryland delegate just made a bad call. tonight he is apologizing for
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his marriage proposal that involved a police helicopter, a boat, and a bit of controversy. 11th district delegate john cardin, nephew of senator ben cardin said he wanted to make his fiancee's night perfect as he proposed to her on a boat. apparently that involved having a police helicopter hover overhead and marine police pretending to search the boat. in response to our call about the incident, we received an e- mail from a cardin aide. in part it reads "in retrospect, i should have considered that city resources would be involved and used better judgment to put a stop the it. i will be in contact with the baltimore city police department and will reimburse the city for whatever costs they deem appropriate ." we contacted city police tonight for their response, and in a statement they say an internal investigation is underway to determine if there was any inappropriate use of departmental resources. and as for the proposal, at least cardin's fiancee said yes.
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tonight a number of storms are churning to our south. we'll hear from some of those affected in just a bit. one of those storms has already made landfall on florida's gulf coast. and another norm is keeping a close eye on as it moves towards the east coast. >> actually, marybeth, we're keeping an eye on two. this is an ma right here that is in the process of falling apart right now over the island of puerto rico. just not causing a whole lot of problems but a lot of rain well. are watching hurricane bill which continues to intensify. bill continues to move through the midatlantic. still about 2500 miles to the east of miami. but it's a powerful storm that continues to grow in intensity. we'll have a look at where the national hurricane center thinks bill is going to be going in just a couple minutes. >> thanks, norm. baltimore's housing authority is catching heat tonight from senior citizens steamed over broken air conditioning at their high rise building. terry owens is working the story to find out why it's taking so long to turn the air
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on. terry? >> reporter: residents at the mccullough homes are going through their fourth straight night of air condition, and they're not at all happy with the folks here at the baltimore city housing authority. after inquiries from abc 2, we can report that housing authority officials have gone door to door in the high rise building, checking on the condition of residents. many of whom are elderly and frail. but there is still no word tonight when the air is going to be restored. with temperatures hovering near 90 degrees since friday, the senior citizens who live at mccullough homes say they have been forced outside. >> that's why we're out here, trying to get a little bit of air. because it's too hot in the apartment. >> reporter: too hot to cook, residents say, too hot to eat, too hot to sleep. the building on druid hill avenue has been without air since friday, folks here are steamed. >> thank god i don't have any breathing problems. but there is people with oxygen and breathing problems, asthma. and i feel sorry for them. >> i'm a chronic high blood pressure person. y have a stroke at any time
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with the heat. management ain't doing nothing to settle this problem. >> reporter: officials with the baltimore city housing authority say they weren't notified of the problems until saturday. what began as several units without air is now several floors. >> it's my understanding that we have a number of units out between the 12th and the 15th floor. we have a contractor on-site who is working to restore that as soon as possible. >> reporter: housing officials were unable to say exactly what the problem was or when the air conditioning would be fixed, but insist they are working diligently to get the air back on. >> the first full lobby of the 1102 building is very cool. so we're asking if you want to come down, there is couches. there is television. you can relax there, in the lobby while the system is being worked on. >> there is only air on the first floor. and i feel as though that's sad. for all these elderly people, they be in their houses suffering. >> reporter: now a housing authority spokesperson told me tonight that they are also
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keeping the community room open. it normally closes at midnight. they're going to keep that open all night for people who want to come down to cool off. we're told contractors will be back at the mccullough homes building first thing tomorrow morning to try and get the air working. reporting live from downtown baltimore, terry owens, abc 2 news. it's not the heat, fire, or flood that has forced a carroll county family out of their home. the corner family says they lost everything they owned after mold made them sick. they first discovered the mold four months after they moved into their eldersburg home four years ago. they cleaned the house thoroughly and thought the mold was gone, but three years later, it came back worse than before. >> the first time around, we spent a ton of money. and this time around we actually had to throw away everything in the home room by room in an attempt to clean up the house so that we could stay there. and we threw -- we started in the girls' room first and threw everything away and cleaned it up. and i thought we were okay.
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and then we found it in the boys room. >> the family has been living in their minivan off and on since the summer began. they're also getting help from their church. if you would like to help, you can contact st. joseph's catholic church in eldersburg at 443-920-9191. two ocean city hotels are facing fines for failing to install carbon monoxide detectors. three people were sickened earlier this month at the americana hotel. high levels of co were recovered. the americana remains closed and has been fined $10,000. the el capitan has been fined $2,000. a family of six was sickened there in june. the fire marshals office says it will continue inspecting hotels for co detector compliance. our dance card is all set. talking about "dancing with the stars." coming up, who will spin and dip their way through the 9th season. and hurricane season is heating up. norm is keeping a close eye on one of those storms in particular. >> but before we get to, that let's check on our 2-degree
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guarantee for today. it was 91 degrees. the official high today at bwi 89, which means we did hit that 2-degree guarantee. we've now gone six days in a row. can we make it seven? and what about this hurricane stuff. we'll talk more about it coming up right after this.
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now to your money. consumer fears sent stocks tumbling. the dow lost 186 points. the s&p lost more than 24. that index is now down more than 3% since peaking last thursday. t. rowe price led the way falling 4%. under armour lost more than 1 1/2% on the day. and in linthicum, the sienna
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corporation fell more than 6%. fortune magazine has come out with its list of the nation's top 100 fastest growing businesses, and a pair of maryland companies made the cut, including one inside this very building on pratt street. baltimore-based fti consulting landed at number 61 on fortune's list. catalyst health solutions in rockville was ranked number 93. possibly a dose of compromise in the battle over health care reform. the main sticking point is the so-called public option, which democratic supporters call vital, which may be a deal breaker if it stays. abc's viviana hurtado has more. >> reporter: the administration flatly rejects that the president signaled a willingness to drop the so- called public option from health care reform legislation when he said this on saturday: >> the public option, whether we have it or we don't have it, is not the entirety of health
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care reform. this is just one sliver of it, one aspect of it. >> reporter: but a government- run option is a crucial aspect, and it's threatening to derail the latest attempt to overhaul the health care system. in phoenix, where the president addressed the vfw national convention, and at town hall meetings across the country, the opposition has gained momentum. >> it's a bill about government control of our -- >> keep the government out of it, we're doing just fine. thank you, sir. >> reporter: supporters are just as riled up about the need for a government-run option. >> the president thinks we're going to get the votes with that public option, he's got another thing coming. that won't pass the house. >> reporter: new york congressman anthony wiener says not including the government- run option could cost the president 100 democratic votes in the house, which could mean defeat for health care reform. an option that is gaining momentum involves nonprofit inside cooperatives. they wouldn't be run by the government, and insurers say they would force private
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insurers to bring down health care costs. viviana hurtado, abc news, washington. >> and while president obama was inside making a statement from health care reform, others were making an apparent statement about the second amendment. when a reporter asked one man why he was carrying an assault rifle, he answered because it's arizona and he can. arizona is an open carry state. so it is perfectly legal to carry an unconcealed weapon. about a dozen people carrying guns were among today's protesters in phoenix. tonight there is a lot of uncertainty along the east coast, and sadness along the gulf coast. at least two storms are churning out in the atlantic, and a third, tropical storm claudette made landfall earlier this morning. claudette is blamed for at least one death in florida's panhandle. for the most part, folks are thankful it wasn't worse, even after the storm quickly gained strength. >> didn't know it was going to get this bad. >> i think everybody fared pretty well through the ordeal.
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>> a tropical depression named ana could bring drenching rains to haiti and the dominican republic. but the storm we're watching closely is hurricane bill. our first official hurricane is packing strong winds and appears to be heading toward bermuda. i know you have been keeping an all of that. >> i tell you, last week i left and went on vacation, things were good, and all of the sudden three hurricanes. well, three storms. >> you came back early for those, right? >> exactly. >> you're here. >> show you what is going on with bill. it is gaining strength, but it looks like it's not going to be impacting the united states. >> okay. >> we probably feel a little bit of coastal wave action, things like that. but for the most part it doesn't look like anything major at this point in time. we'll show you what the national hurricane center is thinking. go ahead and take a look outside. the shot from harbor cam overlooking the downtown area, camden yards all lit up. our temperature at bwi 77 degrees. wind currently from the southwest at 3 miles an hour.
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the pressure falling 30.14. here are the tides tomorrow at fort mchenry. 5:18 in the morning. our winds tomorrow from the southwest at 6 to 12 miles an hour. 2 sun comes up at 6:22. our low is 66 degrees. high today got to 89 degrees, which did hit our 2-degree guarantee right not on the nose, but within two degrees of it. 77 in downtown. 75 in york. it's still 82 in hagerstown. party time, i guess. they're the warmest one. they got the high temperature award. 79 right now on the boardwalk down in ocean city. here is what is going on. there is ana right there, just kind of losing strength over the dominican republic and portions of puerto rico. but watch what is going on back here. hurricane bill continues to churn through the midatlantic. still about two thousand miles, 2200-miles to the east of miami. it's still a long, long way away. now bill at 6:00 at wind of 90
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miles an hour. now the winds are up to 100 miles an hour. moving towards the northwest at 15 miles an hour. now watch as bill goes from a hurricane intensity 2 storm as it make its way on towards the east, it becomes a 3. and then it starts to turn northward. and will continue to turn northward. it looks like at this point in time, along the eastern seaboard they'll see some rough surf and things of that nature. it looks like the storm is going the scoot out in this direction. again, we're going to be watching this very, very closely. an area of high pressure right here with clockwise circulation of air is going to be pulling the storm in that direction. we'll coop our fingers crossed that it does not look like the storm will make landfall in the united states. as far as what is happening across the region, throughout the day today, we had a few little light clouds. but for the most part a pretty decent evening. partly cloudy skies out there. a few light showers out to the west. but the majority of the rainfall continues up into the ohio valley. that will gradually move in our direct. sheer a few scattered showers
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out here near winchester, virginia. as they hit the mountains, they're basically being ripped apart. tomorrow a little better chance. but biggest chance is going to be coming wednesday, thursday, friday, and saturday. temperature-wise, everybody seems to be in the mid- to upper 70s. frederick is not at 48. still a broken thermometer. 77 in westminster. 73 down in prince frederick and annapolis right now at 79 degrees. here is your forecast for the overnight period. very thin clouds out there. you can see the stars through it. a little bit of a haze out there. during the afternoon tomorrow, a few pop-up storms here and there. but the majority of the rainfall makes its way into the region on wed, and then on wednesday and thursday, we see some heavier rain. here is the forecast, partly cloudy, humid, 72 for the low. during the day tomorrow, a partly cloudy hot and humid day. 90 degrees, a good chance for an evening shower scattered through the region. but the best chance for showers comes in on wednesday, thursday, friday, and saturday. lingering showers on sunday with some cooler temperatures, and then partly cloudy and 82 on monday. hope you all have a nice
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evening. see you tomorrow night at 5, 6, and 11. >> thanks, norm. the orioles wrapped up their series with the angels at the yard, and it was iganything but heavenly. the angels pulled away for an 8- 5 win. tomorrow night in tampa taking on the rays. tomorrow night, the ravens will host rex ryan and his new team, the new york jets, monday night, august 24th at m&t bank stadium. and it looks like superrookie mark sanchez will get the start for the jets. speaking of football, what would another season of "dancing with the stars" be without a big name ex-nfl player? this year it's former dallas cowboy wide receiver, easy for me to say, michael irvin. he'll be joined by former congressman tom delay who danced away from politics amid a bit of controversy. another osmond is also on board, donny this time, as is an osbourne, kelly. singers macy gray, erin carter,
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and maya are also taking part. snowboard champion louis veto, olympic swimmer natalie coffman and chuck liddell will strap on the dancing shoes. and there are even more. this season will be the largest cast with dancing stars in history. season 9, look, the chef. begins september 21st. i'll have to remember all the names and players. it's going to keep track of them all. still planning a summer getaway? more and more folks are including their four-legged family members, even if it means a plane ticket.
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hey, if you're looking for something to do this week, maybe consider heading out the cumberland and take a ride on
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the western maryland scenic railroad. it would sure help them out. operators say they're looking into ways to turn around an 11% drop in ridership from last july. they be offering lower-priced rides to see if that helps reverse the trend. it will be fun for the kids too. if you're looking at a longer trip farther away, do you know what you're going to do with the pets? there are all kinds of options, but many pet owners prefer to bring along their four-legged friends. as jamie costello shows us where to go and how to get there, it's easier than ever. >> barbara considers her dogs part of the family. and that means when she travels, she brings them with her. >> we have taken them to places like asheville and key west, florida. >> reporter: when making sleeping arrangements, she is sure to book places that are pet-friendly. this summer, she'll be surprised by the growing number of options catering to pet owners. >> we see people not only being pet friendly, but putting together packages with pet spas. they provide pet sitters.
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>> and although pet travel is simpler now, it's not always easy. >> you must plan in advance. >> reporter: if you're traveling by car, get your animal accustomed in advance and pack appropriately. >> have a good leash and collar. you want to have identification on the pet at all times. and you want to have portable pet food bowls, water bowl. >> reporter: if you plan to fly with your pet, check with your carrier for their rules on how they'll handle the animals, and what kind of carrier you need. >> it can't have wheels. it has to have a spring-locked door and a ventilation on all four sides. >> reporter: this summer, a new airline, pet airways is catering to animals, flying them in coach, almost like a kennel in the sky. that may be the only option to travel to warm places where pets aren't allowed to fly as cargo. >> the airlines have adopted what is known as a summer heat embargo. what this means if the temperature on the tarmac is over 84 degrees, there is no carrier that will put a pet in cargo.
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it simply too risky, and it's too warm. >> reporter: if you're headed overseas, do your research. european countries require specific vaccinations and a microchip, along with veterinarian-signed health documents. those can be included in what is called a pet passport. >> a eu form 998, a health certificate. the pet must go see a veterinarian within ten days of travel to certify that they're free of ticks and parasites and any communicable diseases. >> it may not be easy to just get up and go, but your pet owners like barbara say it's well worth the effort. jamie costello, abc 2 news. >> and some forms of travel are still difficult in the u.s. the majority of pets are not permed on most buses and trains. however, in europe that's not the case. a final look at the forecast when we come back. >> watch abc 2 news any time on channel 1 with comcast on demand. this is more than my easy button.
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and tomorrow another hot and humid day. a slim chance for an evening shower. but the best chance for rainfall comes on wednesday, thursday, friday and saturday. >> could use a little. >> it's getting a little dry out there. >> that's all for us tonight. thank you for watching. remember, you can follow all the stories we're covering on abc2news.com, and also on twitter. good night, and we'll see you tomorrow. >> good night. >> thanks for choosing abc 2 news at 11. tomorrow wake up for more news with "good morning maryland," or go now the abc2news.com. abc 2 works for you. abc 2 news on your iphone. available at the itunes ap store now. be the first to know. forecasts, video clips, breaking news, with just a touch. download the abc 2 news ap for free. search wmar, only on itunes. click weather on abc2news.com. >> maryland's most powerful radar. >> baltimore's most accurate forecast. >> customize your forecast.
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